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Violence prompts questions

Jason Miller/The Intelligencer
Mayor Jim Harrison (left) and Deputy Mayor Jim Alyea speak out against acts of hate and violence. Local leaders have been discussing such acts in light of the deadly shooting in Las Vegas earlier this week.

In the wake of 58 people, including three Canadians, being gunned down and 500 injured at a concert in Las Vegas, local leaders are speaking out against hate heading into the Thanksgiving weekend.
Coun. Jack Miller may try to talk his daughter out of a trip she has planned to the popular destination, considering the current state of affairs.
“She and her husband are supposed to be going there and staying not far from Mandalay Bay,” he said.
Uncertainty of where the next event will raise its ugly head is an ever more looming thought, Miller said.
“It almost makes you feel unsafe no matter where you are in the world, that’s the scary part of it all,” he said. “All I know is the community we live in has come together when we’ve faced issues in the past. We can’t give in to it, because if you do, they win.”
During Monday’s Quinte West council meeting, Mayor Jim Harrison reiterated the city’s stance of inclusiveness and zero tolerance for acts of racism and violence against any group.
Speaking from the chair around the council horseshoe, Harrison expressed dismay about the reasoning behind the killings, as police themselves continue to dig for clues to the mass shooting being called the deadliest in US modern history.
“You wonder what causes all these things,” he said of such horrific events. In this case a retiree with no criminal record set perched in a sniper’s nest in a highrise Las Vegas hotel firing indiscriminately onto the festive gathering below.
“What causes somebody to shoot so many people?”
Amidst the turmoil, Harrison said it highlights how we are privileged, as Canadians, to live in the “best part of the world.”
His sentiment was echoed by Coun. Allan DeWitt who said “considering what we see in the news, I just want to say happy Thanksgiving, we do live in a great community and a great region.”
Deputy Mayor Jim Alyea said the frequency of these events’ carnage is baffling, before identifying that Canada isn’t immune, pointing to a recent bloody saga in Edmonton, which left a police officer suffering from stab wounds and the running down of four pedestrians on Jasper Avenue.
Abdulahi Hasan Sharif, 30, has been charged with five counts of attempted murder.
“It’s hard to imagine that things like that can happen,” Alyea said. “It’s just innocent people having a good time and they had to endure such a thing.”
Alyea has a few friends visiting Vegas and is awaiting word about their well-being.
“I haven’t heard anything back,” he said. “I hope he’s safe.”
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Quinte West Fire Department is opening its doors to the public on Oct. 14.
Station One will be put on display for visitors who will learn safety tips and get a first-hand view of the various tools used by the department to tackle various emergency situations.
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Quinte West OPP are out hauling in seat belt violators.
Since Friday the service has recorded about 40 such infractions as the campaign continues through the week. The the seat belt blitz will dovetail into wider enforcement on distracted driving and speeding over the weekend.